Mending the Broken
by cocopops1995
Summary: A week after the incident with the Dust that had Robin seeing Slade in the dark Robin is still having horrific nightmares about Slade and has all but reached his breaking point and he knows it. He also knows that there is only one person who can help him get over this... but will that person be willing to even see him, let alone help him?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello and welcome to my newest story! **

**So I spent the past week, give or take, watching all five seasons of the original Teen Titans and the whole Slade thing got my muse going like crazy! So I know this kind of story has probably been done like 1000 times already but this is the first time I'm writing something so focused on raw emotions so hear it goes and I hope you guys enjoy it. **

**First I need to give credit where credit is due: if you check my fav stories you'll see that abasically every second story is one by paganpunk2. Most of my research for this story included going over some of her stories because she writes this kind of thing amazingly. So a big shout out to her! **

**And now... on to the story...**

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**Chapter 1**

"You are leaving?" Starfire's soft voice reached Robin's ears as he finished packing a few things into his travelling backpack. He winced at the obvious sadness in her voice before turning to face her.

She gasped as she saw his face. He couldn't blame her; the last time he checked the mirror he had looked like a zombie. He had barely gotten any sleep since the incident with the dust a week ago. It wasn't bad enough that Slade had haunted him while he was awake, at least then all he had needed to do was turn on the lights to make Slade go away, but Slade had haunted his dreams every night since then. Every single night he had to relive that horrible night. It left him physically, mentally and emotionally drained and it was definitely beginning to show.

"Robin!" Starfire gasped

"It's okay, Star, I'll be fine." He told her, trying to sound as reassuring as possible

"You do not look like you will be fine." She stated gravely

He sighed, "Look, I've had a lot of time to think lately and I've come to realise that I need to go home."

"But, is this not your home?"

"Of course it is, Star, but I have another home in Gotham, just like you have another home on Tamaran." Robin answered softly, "I think it's kind of obvious that this thing with Slade is not going away and… well there's only one person who can help me get over this and I should have gone to see him after the whole apprentice thing… but you know me." He knew he was rambling a little but he couldn't help it. Exhaustion did that to him and he was truthfully extremely nervous about going home. He and Batman hadn't exactly parted on speaking terms and he didn't know what he would do if Batman was still too angry to speak to him. He supposed he could try speaking to Alfred, he knew the old butler would never turn him away, but it wouldn't have the same effect talking to Bruce would, and he knew it. "I can't go on like this, Star, I _need _to lay this to rest."

"I understand, Robin, and if you truly believe that going home to your Gotham is what is best for you then I will not argue." Starfire said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "When will you be leaving and how will you get there? I hope you do not plan on going all the way on your R-cycle. You are in no condition for such a trip."

He had to smile at that, sometimes Starfire reminded him exactly of Alfred when she got all overprotective of him, "Don't worry, I booked a flight to Gotham and I'll catch a cab home from there. My flight leaves in three hours."

"And how do you plan on getting to the port of air form here?" she asked

"Well I was planning on calling a cab…"

"Nonsense!" She exclaimed, "Cyborg will not mind taking you in his T-car, I am sure. That way we can all bid you a farewell. It is important for us to do so, especially if we will not be seeing you again." She finished with a barely restrained wobble in her voice.

"What? Star, I only mean to be away for a few days. A week, maybe two at the most, I promise."

Her face instantly brightened up, "Oh that is glorious news! But I still think it is important that we are all present at the port of air to bid you a safe journey home."

He chuckled, "Alright, Star. Come on, let's go ask Cyborg for a ride."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: thank you so much for the reviews, favourites and follows! Here's chapter 2!**

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**Chapter 2**

Dick Grayson stood facing Wayne Manor's door. He hadn't set foot inside the manor since his fight with Bruce almost a year and a half ago and now he was having difficulty building up the courage to do so again. He checked his watch, it was still early, Bruce probably wasn't even back from work yet so maybe he could take a few hours to talk himself into doing this again. He knew he needed this, desperately, but he also knew that he was too vulnerable to take the rejection he had spent the last three hours convincing himself that he would receive from Bruce. He needed to regroup and build up his defences before –

His train of thought was derailed as the front door swung open of its own accord, revealing Alfred with a barely concealed smile standing behind it.

"Master Dick, I have spent the last five minutes waiting for you to ring the doorbell and I refuse to do so any longer." The old butler said in a gentle yet reproving tone

"Alfred I – I'm sorry, I– I-" Dick stammered, unable to formulate a reply as he started backing away but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder

"Calm down, Master Dick, you look dreadful. Come inside, I have just brewed myself a pot of tea and I dare say I have sorely missed you company during my afternoon repast."

Dick gaped at the butler. He had known deep down that Alfred would never reject him but he had fought sleep while on the plane for fear of dreaming about Slade again, instead his troubled mind had spent the better part of the last three hours going over his last… conversation with Bruce and convincing himself that absolutely everyone, including Alfred, would chase him away the moment he set foot on the grounds surrounding Wayne Manor. He had even been surprised to find that his personal security code for the front gate hadn't been changed and now having Alfred invite him to join him for a ritual* in which he had not taken part of in so long… it was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Alfred's sharp eyes immediately spotted the moisture brimming his young charge's eyes and felt his heart clench as it only added to the broken look in the boy's sea-blue eyes , "Oh dear child, what has happened to you?" he nearly moaned

Dick's only reaction was to surge forward and pull Alfred into a fierce hug. The butler returned the hug just as fiercely as sobs began to rack the boy's alarmingly thin frame, "It's alright child, hush now."

"I'm s-sorry! I- I-"

"Hush now, Master Dick, you have nothing to apologise for. Come; let us go to the kitchen. I had an inexplicable urge to bake chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and have just finished pulling out the last batch. Would you care to join me?"

Through the tears Dick grinned as his sobbing lessened somewhat, "That s- sounds gre-at"

"Very good, sir, come with me." Alfred said, pulling back to place a hand on Dick's shoulder and gently guide him to the kitchen.

"Now, sir," Alfred said a few minutes later when Dick had worked half way through his cup of tea and calmed considerably, "What are the extent of your injuries?" it wasn't the question he had wanted to ask but Alfred thought it would be best to start with the easy questions. He had never seen the child before him break down the way he had a few minutes ago before and he did not wish to see it ever again, although he suspected that the worst was yet to come.

Dick winced at the question but he suspected he knew what the old butler was doing and was grateful for it; he didn't feel quite ready to go over the emotions that had broken free a few minutes ago so he smiled at Alfred over his cup, "You don't miss anything, do you?" he teased

"I would think you would know that by now, sir." Alfred replied dryly

"Of course, I was only stating the obvious, but it's nothing: three cracked ribs, a couple of bruised ones, black eye, a mildly sprained wrist and bruises. Lots of bruises. I've had worse."

"Unfortunately I must agree that you have had worse," Alfred said soberly, "But you rarely used to come home with so many injuries at once. Tell me, are all these from a single incident or a series of incidents?"

Dick dropped his eyes to the last little bit of tea in his cup, "One… it's a long story. One that I don't particularly feel like telling twice." He mumbled

Alfred nodded in understanding, "I take it this lengthy story is the reason behind the lack of sleep you've been experiencing of late."

Dick's head shot up, "How did you-?"

"Dear child, one would not even need to be a mediocre detective to be able to tell that you haven't been sleeping and to someone who helped raised you it stands out as clear as daylight."

Dick dropped his head again before draining the last of his tea.

"Another cup, sir?" Alfred asked, changing the subject

"Yes please, Alfred." Dick said before broaching a cautious question, "How's Bruce?"

"Oh, Master Wayne is doing as well as can be expected." Alfred answered vaguely, "I dare say he will be happy to see you here when he returns from work this afternoon."

Dick snorted, "Yeah, right. He seemed all too happy to see me go last time." He said bitterly

"Master Dick, if you truly believed that then why did you return, hmm?"

"Maybe I wanted to come visit you."

Alfred allowed a small smile to cross his features before becoming serious again, "As much as that thought flatters me, young sir, you and I both know that you came here because you need to talk about whatever has happened with Master Wayne, and you would not have returned if you truly believed that he would not want to see you again."

Dick dropped his head into his hands, "I don't know, Alfred. I just know that I need Bruce to be able to get through all this but I didn't know, I still don't know, what I would do if he won't even talk to me again."

"Master Dick, I can assure you that you do not need to fear such an occurrence. Master Wayne has greatly missed you presence. He won't admit it out loud, of course, because he is who he is, but I do believe that you will need to be more worried about him giving you a chance to rest amidst all his enquiries as to what you have been up to these last eighteen months." Alfred said, laying a reassuring hand on Dick's shoulder

"I hope you're right, Alfred." Dick mumbled softly.

"Am I not usually?" Alfred asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Dick smiled as he lifted his cup to his lips.

They passed the next few minutes in a companionable silence as they finished their tea, each one lost in his own thoughts. Finally, though, Dick couldn't hold back a mammoth yawn that broke free.

"Sorry Alfred," Dick apologised as he was too late to cover his mouth with his yawn

Alfred gave a long-suffering sigh, "I suppose it can only be expected since you have spent the past eighteen months surrounded by a bunch of unkempt teenagers."

Tired as he was Dick almost didn't catch the joking tone underlying the butler's words but he looked up to see the faintest of smiles on Alfred's lips just in time to stop himself from objecting strenuously. Instead he merely grinned and replied, "Yep, I guess those hooligans have rubbed off on me."

"Hmm, well I'll just have to fix that, now won't I."

Dick kept grinning, oh how he had missed spending afternoons with Alfred drinking tea and talking about whatever it was that they wanted to talk about. There had been so many instances over the past year and a half when something had happened that he had immediately made him wonder what Alfred's reaction to it would be. Those had been the moments in which he had missed Alfred the most.

"You know, one of my team-mates, her name is Starfire, is actually a princess from another planet." He said as Alfred began clearing the cups away.

"Indeed, young sir?" Alfred asked, sounding genuinely impressed, "I trust you at least remember your manners around her?"

"Actually we went to her planet about a month ago because her evil sister arranged for her to be married to this disgusting blob alien with an unpronounceable name, that's another long story but we managed to stop her sister's plan, but anyway you definitely wouldn't like it there. Their table manners are… frightening."

Alfred's brain had gotten stuck on the part where they had been to an entirely different _planet _a month ago but he quickly recovered, "Good gracious, sir."

"Yeah, it was pretty-" he cut himself off as another yawn escaped him, "Bad. Sorry Alfred."

"It's quite alright sir. Why don't you go up to your room and take a nap? Master Bruce is not due home for at least another hour or so. I will wake you when he returns."

"No! I mean I…" he trailed off, unable to come up with a good enough way to cover up the fact that he was _afraid _of going to sleep.

Suddenly Alfred was sitting across from him again. A moment later he covered one of Dick's hands with his own. Dick looked up to see a frown of worry marring the old butler's face and couldn't stand that he was the reason for that frown to be there. Suddenly the rage he felt whenever he spent too much time dwelling on Slade flared up in the pit of his stomach and he screwed his eyes shut, forcing it to die down again.

"Dear child, what _has _happened to you?" Alfred murmured. He had never seen his young charge acting in this manner before… so like Batman. It was so unlike the young boy that had stormed away from his guardian some eighteen months ago. Whatever had taken place during those months must have been truly terrible to bring about such a change to someone who had once been so extraordinarily bright that he had managed to bring light to someone who had once lived in darkness.

"I'm sorry, Alfred, I just… I just don't want to go to sleep yet. Please?" he nearly begged, focusing on the butler's hand instead of his eyes, "I haven't felt this relaxed and… content in such a long time. I don't want to ruin it by going to sleep." _I don't want to face Slade again. I'm not strong enough to defeat him on my own…_

Alfred studied his young charge for a moment more before making a decision, "Very well, sir, but why don't we adjourn to the den? I do believe I have some dusting to do in there and you could distract yourself by watching some television." Alfred had no doubt in his mind that the young master would be asleep within five minutes of his turning on the television but determined to stay with him to ensure that he did not descend into whatever nightmare it was that he was so terrified of having again.

A relieved smile made its way onto Dick's face and he nodded thankfully, "That sounds great, Alfred. Thank you."

"Very well sir, shall we go then?"

Dick nodded again before getting up and leading the way to the den

_I will not leave you alone unnecessarily while you wait for your father to arrive, child. _Alfred vowed as he silently followed.

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**AN: the ritual which Dick speaks of refers to his and Alfred's ritual to share a pot of tea together every afternoon at 3:30. Paganpunk2 was very generous in letting me borrow this ritual from her. To get more insight on it refer to her story "A Spot of Tea" which is a collection of mostly one-shots centered on this little ritual.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bruce entered the manor with a growing sense of unease. He was getting sick of this; every time he went through the headlines in Jump City's local paper and something about the Teen Titans came up but didn't include anything about Robin his stomach would tie itself into knots that wouldn't go away until the next headline came along with a picture of the team working together that clearly showed Robin alive, well and in one piece. Maybe it was time for him to get off his sorry ass, go to jump city and apologise to Dick already, he couldn't go on like this. The constant uncertainty about how his son is doing and had started eating him up the day Dick had stormed away from him and he feared that there wasn't much of left to be eaten…

His thought process was interrupted by Alfred's appearance and greeting.

"Is everything alright, Master Wayne? You look rather troubled."

"Alfred," Bruce started slowly, "I can't take this anymore. I think it's time for me to go see Dick. I need to know that he's alright, too see it for my own eyes. In fact, I think I'm going to book a ticket to Jump City right now. I don't even care if he doesn't want to speak to me, as long as I can see that he's alright…"

"Master Wayne, please wait a moment before you do anything unnecessary-" Alfred bade him as he started moving in the direction of his study

"Unnecessary?!" Bruce snapped, turning back to the butler with a look of shock, "How is going to find Dick unnecessary?!"

"If you would please allow me to finish, Master Wayne, I am not saying that it is unnecessary for you to find Master Dick and apologise to him. I am merely saying that it is unnecessary to go all the way to Jump City to do so as the young master is currently asleep on the couch in the den."

As Alfred had predicted the exhausted teen had fallen asleep almost immediately after he had made himself comfortable about an hour ago and Alfred had kept a close eye on him in order to be able to wake him up as soon as he started showing signs of having a nightmare. Surprisingly there Dick had slept peacefully for the better part of the past hour, which was the only reason why Alfred had opted to let Dick sleep a little longer while he went to warn Bruce of the condition in which he would find his son.

Bruce started at Alfred open mouthed, unable to process what Alfred had just said, "What? He's in the… asleep… when? How?" he stammered

"Oh he arrived here about an hour and a half ago, sir." Alfred explained with a small smile playing on his lips at the bewildered expression on his eldest charge's face.

Bruce couldn't believe what he was hearing. He needed to see it for himself. He turned in the direction of the den but was once again stopped by his butler

"Master Wayne, there is something I need to tell you before you go in to see him."

Bruce froze at the grave tone in Alfred's voice, that couldn't mean anything good, "What? Is he injured? What's wrong with him?"

"I haven't yet had a chance to check over his physical injuries, sir, but they do not seem to be bothering him. What is worrisome though is his current mental and emotional state. He had a breakdown unlike I have ever seen him have before just after he arrived and expressed a fear of going to sleep when I suggested he take a nap in his room earlier, sir, I believe that the only reason why he did fall asleep in the den is because he is exhausted. It is obvious that he has been sleeping very poorly of late." Alfred told him in a low tone

_Oh, kiddo, why? What's happened? _Bruce silently moaned to himself as Alfred continued:

"When I enquired as to what was bothering him so much he simply stated that it was a long story, one which he did not want to have to repeat twice."

"You didn't leave him alone this whole time did you? If his nightmares are bad enough to make him fight sleep…"

"I assure you Master Wayne; I only left him now to inform you of his presence and condition."

"Alright, thank you Alfred, I'll take it from here."

"Just one more thing before you do, sir," Alfred stopped him for a third time, "It seems that Master Dick has convinced himself that you will not want to speak to him. I strongly suggest you fix that mistake before you tackled whatever it is that is bothering him."

A wave of guilt washed over Bruce as he recalled the last bitter words he had uttered to his son and couldn't blame him for thinking something like that, "I will, Alfred, is there anything else?"

"No, sir, just do everything in your power to help that boy. I fear that whatever has happened must have been truly terrible, he seemed as if he has just about reached his breaking point."

"I'll do my best, Alfred, I swear." Bruce swore vehemently before turning back in the direction of the den.

He hesitated for a moment before entering. Alfred's words had genuinely scared him and he wasn't sure if he would be able to help Dick banish whatever ghosts were haunting him, but he had to try. He owed Dick at least that much. _Just don't be having a nightmare, _he pled desperately, _I don't think I can handle something as terrible as the nightmares you must be having just yet._

He froze as his son's peaceful visage came into view and gasped. His son's pale skin and black eye that stuck out under the blanket that had been draped over him belied the peacefulness that he seemed to be projecting and Bruce could see that Dick must have lost quite a bit of weight lately.

_Oh, kiddo, what happened to you? _He cried out silently as he made his way closer.

As if in reply to Bruce's silent cry Dick suddenly thrashed to the side and let out a low, desperate groan, "Stop, _please, _nooo."

Bruce's heart clenched painfully as those pitiful words tore through him. To hear Dick beg like that, it wasn't right. It needed to stop, _now_!

Bruce sat down next to the moaning teen and started rubbing his arm gently, "Come on kiddo, everything's okay. I'm right here, just wake up and you'll be okay, I promise, just open your eyes, chum." Bruce pled

Slowly, _slowly_ the moaning stopped and Dick's entire body seemed to relax and then finally the sea-blue eyes that Bruce had missed so much appeared behind half-open eyelids. Bruce watched as they swept the room in confusion and finally landed on him.

"Bruce." Came a whisper, laced with some of the same desperation that had been in his voice while he had been dreaming.

"Hey, kiddo."

Dick's mind was reeling; although to Bruce it had seemed as if Dick had woken up slowly, to Dick the dream had ended too abruptly. One moment he was begging Bruce not to leave him in Slade's hands and the next he was in the den in Wayne Manor and Bruce was looking at him almost the same way he had looked at him the first night he had woken up screaming for his parents after Bruce had taken him in. The contrast was too stark for his mind to comprehend so he did the first thing he could think of: he got as far away from Bruce as he could without actually leaving the room.

"Dick?" Bruce asked, not moving from where he was seated on the couch, "Talk to me, kiddo, what's wrong?"

"Bruce… you… I… what?" Dick dropped his head into his hands and fell to his knees, shaking with confusion and desperation and about a thousand other emotions.

Suddenly Bruce was right next to him again, pulling him in close and holding him tightly, "Dick you need to calm down. It was just a dream. Whatever was going on, I promise it was just a _dream _it _wasn't _real."

Gradually Dick stopped shaking. _A dream, a dream, it was just a dream. _He kept repeating those words in his head. He didn't understand why the litany worked so well this time when it usually took much longer the previous times. He guessed it must have something to do with Bruce's protective arms that were wrapped around him and the fact that Bruce was repeating a litany similar to his own out loud

"You okay now?" Bruce asked gently after Dick had taken several deep breaths

"I think so." Dick murmured, unwillingly pulling out of the embrace, "I- I'm sorry I came back. I know you didn't want to see me again but it's just… I don't know who else to go to Bruce and if I can't talk to you I don't know who I can talk to and-"

"Dick, hush." Bruce cut him off, "Look what I said the last time we… spoke; it was unnecessary and mean and _not _true. I'm not mad at you for coming back; in fact I couldn't be happier that you did."

"You- you really mean it?" Dick asked. He was aware of how childish the question made him sound but he couldn't help it; the lack of sleep combined with the mental and emotional stress he had been under for the past week was making him vulnerable. That was part of the reason why he had finally decided to come back.

"Dick, do you honestly think we would be having this conversation if I didn't?"

Dick only shrugged as he looked away.

Two fingers materialised under his chin and pulled his face back up so that Bruce could look him in the eye, "Do you know what I told Alfred to do before he told me that you were here?" he asked gently

Dick shook his head

"I told him that I was going to book a ticket to Jump because I couldn't take not knowing how you were doing anymore. I was about to fly over to your tower and apologise for all that I said and ask you to come home. Hell, Dick, I probably would have begged whether your friends were there or not."

Dick gaped at him, "Whoa." He finally managed

"Yeah," Bruce breathed, "I want you here, Dick, it's all I've wanted since you walked out the front door, and I'm sorry for saying the things that made you do that. Forgive me? Please?"

"I forgive you, Bruce, but I said some nasty things too and I'm sorry too. Forgive me?"

Bruce gave a small smile, "Of course."

Dick sighed as a weight he had been carrying around for the past eighteen months finally lifted off his shoulders, "Well I'm glad that's over."

Bruce pulled him back into a fierce hug, "Me too, chum. Me too."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Bruce finally pulled back, "Now, how's about we go see if Alfred will let us have some cookies and milk before dinner and then you can tell me about the nightmare you just had." He said as he regained his feet and pulled Dick up next to him.

Dick winced at the thought of reliving the nightmare he had just had so soon, "You won't really understand that until you hear the whole story."

"Well then you can tell me the whole story, and Alfred will be there so you won't end up having to tell the story twice." Bruce said as he moved to the den's door

"It's a really long story though; maybe we should wait until after dinner."

Bruce turned from where he had just opened the den's door, "Dick, you came back because you needed to talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you, didn't you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

"Well, yeah…"

"Then talk to me, chum. I can't help fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"I… I know it's just… I haven't opened up to anybody about this before. It's just hard, Bruce." He said looking at his guardian with pleading eyes, willing him to understand

Bruce walked back over to him and laid a hand on each of Dick's shoulders, "I know it is, Dick, believe me; I know a thing or two about finding it difficult to share, but you're the one who taught me how to do it so I have no doubt that once you get started it will come easily and then we can both work it out together. Just like we used to do. I promise."

"With cookies and milk?" Dick asked

"With cookies and milk." Bruce answered gravely

A small smile played on Dick's lips, "Then let's do it."

Five minutes later Bruce and Dick were sitting across from each other with a plate of cookies between them and a glass of milk each while Alfred started dinner in the background.

Dick sighed as he picked up a cookie, "I don't know where to start..."

"The beginning seems like as good a place as any." Bruce said, "Start with how the Teen Titans began and work your way from there."

Dick raised his eyebrows at him, "You know that means that's going to make an already long story much longer, right?"

Bruce shrugged, "You're not planning on leaving again after dinner are you?"

"No."

"Then we have time."

"Okay." Dick started, taking a deep breath before plunging into the story, "It all started when Starfire crashed down to earth and kissed me to learn English..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

They had finished dinner and moved back into the den by the time Dick was about to start on his most recent Slade encounter and he had to take a moment to steel himself before beginning the story.

Bruce used the moment to reflect on the emotional rollercoaster Dick had just taken him on. His reactions to the various stories had ranged from amazement to horror and to sadness, but most of all Bruce couldn't help but feel a swelling pride in his chest at how well Dick seemed to have been leading his team. Second to that feeling though was an anger that burned in the pit of his stomach. It was like a fire that grew hotter every time Slade came back into the story, and that happened often. All Bruce wanted to do was find that asshole and show him exactly what happens when you mess with Batman's Robin. Bruce was also worried about Dick. He had seen a rage burning in his son's eyes, not unlike the rage he himself felt toward the Joker, when he spoke of how Slade had used him and his friends to further his own ambitions. It wasn't the anger that bothered Bruce, that was to be expected, but it was the fact that Dick seemed to be dealing with in the same manner Bruce himself did and that was not good. One of the main reasons why Bruce had taken Dick in in the first place was specifically so that he would _not _end up like Bruce, now Bruce was beginning to feel as if he was watching exactly that begin to happen. He needed to put a stop to it as soon as possible.

His musings were cut off as he heard Dick sigh deeply and he looked up to see that Dick had pulled his legs up against his chest with his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin resting on his knees.

Dick took a deep breath to steady the emotions that were building up again before starting to speak again, "Even though I saw Slade fall into that pit of lava the fact that we hadn't been able to find any evidence of his remains still bothered me, it was always at the back of my mind, you know? I need more evidence than just a mask and some of his toys before I can really believe that he's gone. You get that, right?" he looked up to stare at Bruce with pleading eyes, he needed to know that he wasn't the only one who couldn't just let things go.

Bruce nodded begrudgingly, fully aware that if it had been the Joker then it would have bothered him exactly how Slade was bothering Dick.

Dick's shoulders sagged a little in relief at that and he let out a small sigh before carrying on, "So about a week ago I was monitoring the city. I told myself that I was just looking out for any criminal activities, but I was really looking for Slade. It was pretty late; everyone else had gone to sleep and Cyborg had come to turn on the defence systems, and to tell me to get some rest, but my mind was too busy for sleep that night. I don't know why but Slade was really bothering me that night, so I went down to the basement to go over the evidence we had on him again. Then when I picked up his mask it released some kind of dust, it must have been laced with some kind new fear toxin strain because what came after," Dick shuddered at the memory before looking up at Bruce again, "Do you remember a few years back when I got hit with the 'day terrors' strain?"

This time it was Bruce who shuddered, how could he forget? The 'day terrors' strain had caused his son to see horrible visions, but they came and went randomly and where Dick was asleep or awake. In the end Dick had constantly been questioning everything that was going on around him because the visions hit him so suddenly and so powerfully that he couldn't tell that it was nothing more than a vision until Bruce had been able to snap him out of it. It had taken him days to stop questioning his reality after Bruce had given him the cure.*

Dick saw Bruce's reaction and took it as a positive answer before carrying on, "Cyborg had come down and was just telling me to let Slade go when we got an alert. Cinderblock was attacking something; I honestly can't remember what exactly, so we went to stop him. It wasn't as easy fight and I ended up getting thrown off the road and into the forest below… and that's when I saw him: Slade. I chased him into the forest and I tried to fight him but I couldn't lay a hand on him; he was moving so fast and just disappearing and then reappearing behind me and hitting me before I could react. He told me that he had planted earthquake generators at critical points in the city and that together they would cause an earthquake strong enough to break the city in half.

"He disappeared just before the others found me, they were sceptical about whether or not I had actually seen Slade at first, but they believed me after I told them about his plan. So I sent Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven to find the generators while Starfire and I searched for Slade. After a while the other's called in to tell me that they couldn't find anything and I got so frustrated, Bruce. Slade told me exactly where he placed the generators so I told them exactly where to look but they still couldn't find anything! I thought they just weren't looking hard enough… then I saw Slade again and chased after him and when he stopped to fight me it was the same as before; I couldn't land even a glancing blow but he kept hitting me. It was like fighting you only about a hundred times worse. Then he ran when Starfire caught up with me, he ran right toward her and I shouted at her to stop him but she didn't do anything and he ran right past her. I was so angry, Bruce, I grabbed her arm and screamed at her… I could see the tears in her eyes, but I didn't care, all I wanted to know was why she had let him run right past her," Dick was staring at his feet in shame as a wave of guilt for how he had treated her washed over him and caused tears to spring into his eyes, he swiped at them before carrying on, "And then she said that he hadn't seen anybody there and I… I just couldn't understand it. I saw and heard him with my own eyes and ears and I sure as heck felt it when he hit me. So I just told her to go meet the others while I carried on the search.

"I went back to his old haunt, where he had been staying when he made me his apprentice, and I found him and we fought again, but it was much worse that time; he really beat the crap out of me and he kept telling me how soft I had gotten in his absence, that I was weak and that I would never be able to beat him… and he was right. I couldn't beat him, I couldn't even lay a finger on him; all I could do was let him hit me and throw me around like doll and I couldn't do anything to stop him.

"When the others found me there he disappeared again as soon as Starfire lit the place up and then, instead of being greatful to them for saving my butt, because if they hadn't found me I probably wouldn't have made it, I got angry at them for not looking for the generators. They all swore that there weren't any generators and that they hadn't seen Slade fighting me or going past them because they had come through the only entrance and then they insisted that Slade couldn't be real and, well, I didn't take that very well. I threatend to take down anyone who got in my way of stopping Slade, which included me. So they did the only thing they could think of: they knocked me out before I could do anything stupid." Dick looked up again to see a dark look cross Bruce's face and quickly sprang to his team mates' defence, "They did the right thing, Bruce. If they hadn't gotten me out of the city... I don't know what I would have done, and I was exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally and all other kinds of exhausted. I wasn't even thinking rationally anymore."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better about it, Dick, but I can see why it was necessary." Bruce said, shooting Alfred, who was listening to the story intently in the background as he dusted the things he had dusted earlier that day already.

Dick, satisfied that Bruce wasn't planning on hunting his friends down or anything like that, nodded before carrying on, "I woke up in the medical bay, restrained to the bed. I could hear them talking outside the door but I didn't really pay attention to what they were saying, you know how much I hate being restrained, and then suddenly he was there in the medical bay with me and he was coming towards we with something that was crackling with electricity and I knew I _had _to get out of there and I did. I don't know how I did it, just that one moment I was tied down and the next I was free. Slade went up into the ventalation shaft that was above us and I turned on the tower's quarantine protocol, so that nothing could get in or out, and then I followed after him again.

"I couldn't find him and I couldn't understand where he had gone and then suddenly Raven made mental contact with me. I tried to warn her that Slade was there but she told me that there was something wrong with my heart, that I was in danger because of that and that Slade wasn't in the tower, but he had to be, I had seen him. So she asked me to let her see through my eyes and I let her, I needed to know that I wasn't loosing it. I had a couple of flashbacks as she came all the way into my mind; my vow as Robin, my... parents," the word came out as barely a whisper but his voice grew stronger again as he continued, "A few random flashes of Slade, and then suddenly I was calm as her mind flooded mine and she tried to show me that Slade wasn't there and I almost believed her... but then he was right there and he hit me and suddenly Raven, and the calm she had brought with her, was gone. What followed is kind of a blur. I don't know how, but somehow we ended up in the basement and he threw me down the stairs and he kept beating me and I was too weak to even try to dodge his attacks, and I begged, Bruce I _begged _him to stop, just stop, but he just laughed at me and carried on. It felt almost as bad as that time Two-Face nearly killed me, if not worse,"

Dick was so lost in recollection now that he didn't notice the way Bruce was leaning forward like all he wanted to do was hold Dick and never let him out of his sight again but was holding back as if he knew that Dick wouldn't react well to it right then, or that Alfred seemed to be fighting the same urge that Bruce was

"And then... and then it all suddenly fell into place. How he kept disappearing every time there was lighting, because it was storming that night, and how no one else could see him and I suddenly knew he wasn't real. I mean I was bruised and battered but I didn't even have a scratch and then he said something. He said, 'I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind.' and that's when I realised that I only ever saw him in the dark. I was right by the light switch then so I pulled myself up to it and turned the lights on and then he was gone. Just like that. Then Starfire found me and I passed out.

"I woke up in the medical bay again, unrestrained this time, the lights were on and they were all there. Cyborg told me that they had found a chemical reagent in my system that had attacked my central nervous system but he had synthesised a cure and that I was clear of it and I turned the lights off and everything to be sure and it seemed like Cyborg's cure worked. I haven't seen Slade while I was awake since then."

"Oh, Dicky." Bruce moaned, unable to fight the urge to comfort his son anymore and crossing the couch that Dick had curled himself up on and pulling him into a tight embrace, "It's ok, kiddo, it's all over now."

To Bruce's great dismay Dick shook his head, "No... that's why... why I had to come back. That night I was so exhausted that I didn't even dream, but every night since then... every night I've had nightmares about him. It's usually just a repeat of all the beating and the taunting, but in different locations; some times in the forest or in his old haunt or in the basement, but he's there every time I close my eyes and go to sleep. That's why," he looked up at Alfred, "I didn't want to go to sleep earlier... because I was afraid... but then I did fall asleep and I had that dream..."

"The one you were having before I woke you up?" Bruce asked

Dick nodded against Bruce's shoulder.

"Okay, tell me about it chum."

Dick took in a deep, shaky breath again, "I don't actually remember much of it. I just remember you handing me over to Slade and telling him to do whatever he wants with me and- and then when I- when I begged you to come back, to not le-leave me with Sl-Slade you turned around and told me that should n-never have c-come back and that I was never worthy-" unable to carry on Dick descended into broken sobs as Bruce tightened his hold on his son as he tried and failed to stop his own tears, brought on by the heartbreaking way in which his son was crying

"No, Dicky, no! I would never ever do something like that to you I promise. I promise, kiddo." Bruce swore so vehemently that it made Dick choke on a sob

"I'm sorry," Dick cried, "I just- I-I-"

"Hush, kiddo, you have nothing to apologise for and, look at me for a second," Bruce placed two fingers under Dick's chin and levered his face up and looked intently into the deep blue eyes that were still leaking a steady stream of tears, "I am so, so glad that you came back and you will always be more than worthy to me."

"But then- you fired me, Bruce, why?"

"I know, I know I did, Dick, but that _wasn't _because I thought you were unworthy! It was because I was being stupid and over protective and I was scared that something would happen to you and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something did, Dick... it didn't take me long to realise that I was wrong but you were gone by the time I did so I couldn't tell you that I hadn't meant it."

"You couldn't just pick up the phone and call me?" Dick asked, as he accepted the glass of water that had magically appeared on a tray in Alfred's hands.

"You left your phone behind Dick."

"Oh, right... but I think that once Titans' Tower went up it was pretty obvious where to find me."

"I didn't think you'd want to see me, Dick. I thought I could get by just knowing where you were and by keeping track of what you and your team were doing in Jump City," Bruce said, "I know I was wrong now."

"I was wrong too, Bruce, I should have gotten over myself and come to you after he forced me to be his apprentice. Heck I should have found some way to send you an S.O.S when he had me steal from you but I was afraid that you didn't want to see me either and... and we're both idiots aren't we?"

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, Dick, we are, but you're hear now and I intend to do everything in my power to help you to lay Slade to rest."

Bruce felt Dick slump with relief, "Thanks... dad."

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**AN: I got the 'day terrors' strain of fear toxin from an amazing fanfic called "Trepidation" by sidekick heroisms. I seriously suggest checking it out to fully experience the havoc caused by that particular strain...**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I just want to take a moment to say thank you so much to those of you who have followed and favourited this story so far and I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to review too; I truly appreciate it and it gives me incentive to carry on writing. So thanks a million to all of you! I hope you enjoy this chapter too :)**

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**Chapter 5**

Bruce froze. He hadn't heard Dick call him that in… well, it had been a long, long time, but he recovered quickly, "Anytime son, anytime." He murmured in response, squeezing Dick a little tighter for the briefest of moments.

Dick looked like he wanted to say something but he was interrupted by a huge yawn and he only got his hand up to cover his mouth about half-way through, "Sorry, Alfred," he apologised immediately after, "That one snuck up on me."

"It's quite alright, sir." Alfred answered with a wave of the hand

"You should go get some sleep, Dick." Bruce said

"Not yet," Dick protested immediately, fear leaking into his words again; although, Alfred noted, not as strongly as before, "Please? It's comfy here and I haven't felt this… content in so long. Can we sit just a little longer, please?" Dick looked up at Bruce pulling out his trademark pout.

It didn't take long for Bruce to give in, mere seconds in fact, but that was partly because he knew from past experiences that Dick would pass out soon enough and if his incredibly independent teenage son needed to be held then he sure as hell wouldn't refuse him. He had picked up on the note of fear in Dick's voice though and that bothered him. The last time Dick had been afraid to sleep had been during the few weeks after his parents had been killed. The remedy to Dick's nightmares then had been simple: Dick crawled into Bruce's bed, told Bruce about the dream and then slept peacefully in his arms for the rest of the night, but things seemed to have changed since then and Bruce wasn't sure if Dick would still want to do that.

"I don't mind sitting for a while longer, chum," Bruce said, "But would you like a sleeping pill tonight? It should knock you out so much so that you don't have any nightmares."

Dick shook his head, "Tried that last night. Took Raven coming into my mind to wake me from the nightmare, and it was the same brand of pill Alfred sneaks into your coffee when u need sleep."

Bruce frowned, that didn't sound normal. He glanced at Alfred and saw a similar expression on his face.

"But I think talking about all this helped, maybe I'll actually be able to get more than three hours' worth of sleep tonight."

Bruce heard the doubt underneath Dick's hopeful tone but didn't push it, "Okay, Dicky, you just relax now and tell me if u need to talk some more, okay?"

Dick nodded sleepily as he yawned into his arm, "'Kay." he said as his eyelids drooped

Alfred came forward and took the now-empty glass from Dick's hands and exchanged a meaningful glance with Bruce before leaving the two alone in the den.

Bruce started trailing his hand up and down Dick's arm and felt how Dick's body gradually relaxed and heard how his breathing evened out. By the time Alfred came back in with a cup of coffee Dick was dead to the world.

"Ah, I thought that would be the case when I returned." Alfred remarked, "The poor boy is utterly exhausted. I wonder if we should call Dr. Tompkins in tomorrow night to give him a quick check up."

"That sounds like a good idea, Alfred." Bruce replied a little distractedly as he mused over his sleeping son, recalling all the times Dick had fallen asleep like this when he was younger and marvelling over how easily they had gone from not speaking to each other back to this in only a few short hours. "I can't believe we have him back, Alfred," he whispered

"I must admit I share your sentiments, sir." Alfred agreed as he reached out to stroke the dark head of hair nestled in Bruce's shoulder. "Will you be going out tonight, sir?" Alfred inquired after a moment

Bruce considered the warm body in his arms for a minute and finally shook his head, "I have some files I wanted to go over anyway... and I want to look into this Slade character," he added in a low tone.

"Very well sir, will you be moving the young sir to his room then? I have already readied it for him."

"In a while." Bruce answered, "He isn't the only one that hasn't felt this content in a long time."

Alfred allowed a small smile to flash over his features before nodding, and handing the coffee cup to Bruce, "Very well sir."

An hour later Bruce finished tucking his son into bed. He sat on the edge of the bed for a minute before reaching forward to brush the bangs out of Dick's face before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his forehead, "Sleep well, kiddo. I won't let him hurt you again. You're safe here." He murmured before getting up and making his way downstairs.

He popped his head into the kitchen before heading towards the grandfather clock that lead to the cave, "Alfred?"

"Yes, Master Wayne? Is everything alright?" Alfred asked, looking up from the ingredients he was preparing for the next morning's breakfast

"Yeah, he's in his bed. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on him for me? Wake him up if he has a nightmare and then call me over the intercom."

"Of course, Master Wayne."

"Thanks Alfred, see you in a few hours." He said before making his way to the clock.

He spun the hands to the correct time and swung it open to reveal the dark stairway behind it but before he entered he turned to look up at the ceiling in the general direction of Dick's bedroom, _'No nightmares tonight.' _He bade the boy sleeping above his head once again before descending into the darkness.

His hopes that his son would have a peaceful night's sleep were crushed the moment Bruce entered the hallway in which both their rooms were located only to be greeted by a scream emanating from Dick's room.

'_Damn it!' _Bruce cursed as he rushed to Dick's room, threw open the door and flipped the lights on in time to see Dick bolt awake with another scream and tears running down his face. Bruce was beside him in seconds.

"Hush, it's alright now," he said as he pulled the gasping child into his arms, "It was just another nightmare."

"Bruce?" Dick asked, finally seeming to calm down a little

"I'm here chum, just breathe, everything's okay now."

Dick took several deep breaths and Bruce could feel him relaxing again.

"Okay now?" Bruce asked after a few minutes

"Think so," Dick sniffled, "So much for talking helping the dreams." He added bitterly a few seconds later.

Bruce shared his sentiment but chose to focus on the nightmare itself first, "Tell me about your dream?"

Dick sighed, "It was the same as usual, except we were in the manor this time but everything was different and I couldn't find my way around and when I finally found the clock to go downstairs it wouldn't open and I couldn't get away or fight back…" Dick trailed off with a shudder. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't," Bruce assured him, "I was on my way to bed."

"Oh, did you patrol?" he asked

"No, I had some casework to do… and I wanted to see what else I could find out about that man."

"Oh," Dick said, "How long was I asleep?"

Bruce checked his watch, "Give or take five hours or so."

"Seriously? I've only gotten about three or so a night for the past week, with the exception of last night but that was only because I _couldn't _wake up." Dick said, "Maybe talking did help a little."

"Maybe," Bruce agreed, "I wish I had a sample of the dust you inhaled. Then we I could be sure that these nightmares aren't the result of some residual toxin that your friend may have missed."

"I thought of that too," Dick said, "Which is why I brought Slade's mask with me."

"You did?" Bruce asked, surprised, "Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention it earlier."

"That's alright," Bruce said, "You can give it to me tomorrow then I can run some tests on whatever's left of that dust."

Dick nodded and they sat for a while before Dick broached a question, "Bruce?" his voice came out a little hesitant and Bruce frowned a little

"Yes?"

"I was thinking; you know how I fell asleep on the couch earlier with you?"

"Yes?"

"So I was thinking, well… since I slept for so long after I fell asleep like then then maybe..."

"Maybe you'll be able to sleep for the rest of the night if you went to bed with me?"

"… Yeah," Dick said, blushing a little, "I mean, I know it's a very baby thing to do, but I probably won't be able to go to sleep otherwise and I really want to just go back to sleep, Bruce." He finished, his face pleading

"Dick' it's not a baby thing for you to do, it's a _you _thing to do, it's been a part of your coping mechanism for as long as I've known you. One I assume you've been ignoring since you left."

Dick looked down, sheepish.

Bruce gave a sad smile, "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, Dick, but one of the main reasons why I took you in was so that you wouldn't end up like me in that aspect. You know that." Bruce chastised gently

"I know." Dick mumbled, still looking down

"Good." Bruce said, "Now come on; let's go try this whole sleeping thing again, shall we?"

Dick looked up with a small smile on his face, "Yeah, let's."

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**AN: ****IMPORTANT!: ****My family and I will be moving this weekend so I won't have a chance to post the next chapter in two days' time. I should, hopefully, start posting again by midway next week but I'm not going to make any promises. If I can't get anything posted next week then I'll definitely have something posted by the following Monday (7 July). Sorry for any inconvenience! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I think it will be the last chapter that's so heavy on the fluff… maybe… I can never really predict what happens when I write this stuff XD… **

**Enjoy the rest of your weekend dudes and dudettes! **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I'm back! And to make up for the long wait I bring you the longest chapter so far! It includes a bit of mystery, some comedy, Daddybats and a nice dose of fluff at the end! Enjoy**

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**Chapter 6**

The next afternoon found Bruce and Dick closely studying Slade's mask wearing gas masks and gloves to prevent them from breathing in any residual dust, Dick had had another nightmare a few hours after they had gone to bed, albeit not as bad as the previous one but still pretty bad, and Bruce had determined that there must be something other than Dick's currently messed up emotions at play. They needed proof of this theory first though and as soon as they had finished the monstrous brunch Alfred had laid out for them they had gone down to the cave with Dick's backpack to begin their investigation.

They had collected whatever dust they could find first and had put it into the computer to be scanned and broken down before focusing on the mask itself.

"Hmm, look at this." Bruce said, pulling Dick out of his thoughts.

Bruce had removed the top layer of the mask revealing a plain silver metal base, and had a magnifying glass over the lens in the only eye-hole.

"What is it?" Dick asked, leaning in over his guardian's shoulder to see what he did.

"It looks like almost microscopic camera lenses built into the lens itself." Bruce said, handing the magnifying glass to Dick so that he could get a closer look.

"You're right." Dick said finally, "That's really weird, but maybe that means that I can hack the mask? I mean if it's got microscopic cameras it must be linked to some system, right?"

Bruce nodded, "Theoretically, yes, but let's finish taking it apart first to see what else we can find."

Dick nodded, "Right."

Bruce turned the mask around and moved a small camera over it so that it showed a magnified image on the screen in front of them.

"Those look like miniature screws." Dick said, pointing at the little dots that ran around the inner edge of the mask and appeared at various points in the face part as well

Bruce clicked a button to make the camera zoom in to one of the dots and then nodded, "Yeah, they are." He said before getting up to retrieve his tool kit with the miniature screwdrivers.

Just as Bruce was about to start loosening the first screw a minute later a beeping could suddenly be heard coming from Dick's backpack.

"Oh, what now?" Dick grumbled as he moved towards it, "Please don't be something important that they need me for." He muttered as he pulled out his communicator and answered it without activating the video feed, "What is it?" he asked his voice coming out more annoyed than he had expected it to.

"Dude!" Cyborg's voice boomed from the tiny communicator sounding relieved and ticked off at the same time, "You were supposed to call when you made it to Gotham!"

Dick stared incredulously at the communicator for a few seconds and glanced over his shoulder to see that Bruce was watching him with a raised eyebrow, he had completely spaced on checking in with his team but they should know better than to get so worked up about him. He could take care of himself!

"What? Are you my mother now or something?" he asked snarkily

"No I'm the guy who's gonna activate the tracker in your communicator so that I can come find you and beat you senseless." Cyborg said

"Cyborg!" he heard Starfire gasp in the background, "We called only to ensure that he is alright! Not to threaten him with violence!"

Dick's shoulders slumped now that he was sure that they were only calling to check up on him

"Well I'm sorry but he's being a jerk about it." Cyborg was saying on his communicator

"He didn't really mean it, Star." Beast Boy's voice intoned a second later though Dick wasn't sure if he was talking about him or Cyborg.

"I told you he probably wanted to be left alone." Raven's monotonous voice sounded

"Well then he should have called when he said he would." Cyborg said, "Now activate yo' communicator's video stream so I can look at you when I yell at you, Robin!"

Dick glanced at Bruce again to see that the man was openly smirking at him now

"Are they always like that?" Bruce asked

"Pretty much," Dick answered before turning back to his communicator, "Just give me a minute." He told his friends before pulling his mask out of his bag and securing it on his face. He then switched the communicator's video steaming on.

He couldn't help but smile a little at the scene that greeted him. It was of the living area in Titan's Tower. Cyborg was standing with his arms crossed, looking irked, while Starfire hovered to his left with her hands clasped together in front of her chest and a beaming smile on her face which had formed the moment Robin's face had appeared on screen. Beast Boy was bouncing excitedly on Cyborg's right and Raven was seated on the couch in the background pretending to read a book, but Robin could see her peeking out at him every few seconds.

"Well?" Robin asked, "Are you going to yell at me now or not?"

Cyborg opened his mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by Starfire who exclaimed: "No! We merely wanted to make sure that you had reached your home in Gotham safely and-"

Starfire was cut off by Beast Boy, "Dude, who were you speaking to just now? Was it Batman? Tell me it was Batman! It was Batman, right?"

"Yes, Beast Boy, it was Batman." Robin answered, biting back a chuckle, "And we were kind of in the middle of something when you called."

"Ah man that is so cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Hey, could you get his autograph for me? Pleeeeeaaaasee?" he begged, falling to his knees and clasping his hands together under his chin

This time Robin actually did chuckle as he glanced in Bruce's direction again but his mouth turned down a little when he saw that Bruce had disappeared. He looked back at his communicator, "Batman's not really the autograph giving type, Beast Boy." He explained with a shrug and a smirk

"Ah, come on!" Beast Boy complained, "You're _Robin_! I bet you could convince him!"

Robin opened his mouth to argue otherwise but Cyborg beat him to it, "Dude, he's _The Batman_! The Dark Knight! The world's greatest detective! He strikes fear into villains' hearts by just standing there! What makes you think he would give you an autograph?"

Beast Boy shrugged, "Robin didn't turn out so bad, so he can't be _that _bad, you know? I mean don't get me wrong, Robin, you can be really scary when you wanna be, but you're not scary all the time."

Robin didn't really have an answer to that.

"Whatever, the point is that he's _The _Batman and _The _Batman doesn't give autographs!" Cyborg said, "Isn't that right, Robin?"

"Yeah, that's right." Robin said with a nod

Beast Boy looked like he wanted to complain more but Cyborg slapped a hand over his mouth, "Now back to the reason why we called: you can't blame us for worrying, man, you were dead on your feet the last time we saw you!"

"He is correct," Starfire added, "We were worried that you had not made it home because of your exhaustion."

Robin sighed, "Alright, I get it; I didn't mean to worry you guys. Yesterday was a long day and I honestly completely spaced on checking in with you guys. But I'm fine now, really."

"He does look better than he did yesterday." Raven pitched in

Robin shot a smile at her in thanks before looking back at Cyborg.

"Yeah, yeah okay. We just got more worried when we saw that you took Slade's mask with you." Cyborg said

"I brought it with to see what Batman thought of it," Robin said, "That's what we were busy with when you called."

"Seriously? You went home to rest but instead you're still obsessing over Slade?" Cyborg asked incredulously

"I don't think that qualifies as 'resting' dude." Beast Boy added

The joking mood Robin had been in suddenly vanished and he felt his old annoyance at his team's incessant nagging to stop worrying about Slade raise its head again. He was about to say something he would probably have regretted when he suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him and a voice growled: "Is there a problem, Robin?"

Robin spun to see a fully dressed Batman behind him and he took a deep breath to calm himself. After that his annoyance was quickly replaced by confusion as to why Bruce had decided to put his full Batman attire on.

"No," Robin answered Batman's question, "They're just… concerned."

"Hm." Batman said, holding his hand out for the communicator. Robin passed it over with a confused frown.

"_Just don't do anything extreme." _He told Batman, switching over to Romani, _"Please."_

Batman's lips twitched upwards so quickly that anyone else wouldn't have noticed but years of working with the man had tuned Robin into Batman's every movement and he relaxed as he recognised Batman's equivalent of a wink.

Batman looked into the communicator, "Cyborg, I presume." he growled, using his patented 'intimidation' voice

"Uh, yeah… That's me." Robin heard Cyborg reply in a nervous sounding voice.

"Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven," Batman continued listing off the names of Robin's team mates

Robin heard Beast Boy gasp, "Ohmygosh, he knows my name!" and couldn't help smirking. Typical Beast Boy, he thought.

"What, exactly, are your concerns?" Batman asked.

"Well it's just that Robin goes kind of crazy when he obsesses over Slade, sir." Beast Boy said

"Explain." Was Batman's only reply

"He doesn't eat or sleep…" Beast Boy started

"He takes unnecessary risks." Cyborg answered

"It makes him not be Robin anymore, but someone else." Starfire added in a soft, sad voice.

Robin looked down, he wasn't proud of how he had acted when things involved Slade and it hurt to think that he was the reason for that sad tone in Starfire's voice.

Batman glanced at Robin in concern before returning his attention to the communicator as Raven voiced her opinion

"What my team mates are trying to say is that they're worried about what Robin will do if he keeps focusing on Slade," She said, "But what I don't think they understand is that laying something to rest involves thinking about it a lot, and that it's not the same as obsessing."

A small smile reappeared on Robin's face; it didn't surprise him at all that Raven would be the one who understood this better than the others; mental connection that they now shared aside, she also understood the workings of the mind better than anyone. It also didn't surprise him that her voice didn't carry the same nervous tone that everyone else's did; she was Raven after all and Raven doesn't do fear.

Batman nodded, clearly impressed with her assessment, "Your concerns are noted but they are unnecessary. As Robin said; he and I are working on the mask together and I assure you that he is not 'obsessing' over it, as you put it, and I will ensure that he does not do so while he is here. Now, are there any other concerns that you would like to voice?"

There was a moment of silence before Raven replied, "No, I think that was it."

"Very well, Cyborg; do you have the results of the scans you ran on Robin when he was infected by the dust on file?" Batman asked

"Yes sir, I do." Cyborg answered, sounding a little confused

"Good, I would like to take a look at them." Batman said

"Uh, sure, where should I send them to?"

"There's no need for you to send them anywhere. I am sure Robin will be able to access your system from here and download them."

"Oh yeah… right." Cyborg said sounding sheepish now.

"Good." Batman said as he prepared to hand the communicator back to Robin

"It was very nice to meet you Mr Batman!" Starfire exclaimed

Batman looked down at the communicator again, "It was nice to meet you too, Starfire, as well as the rest of you." With that he handed the communicator back to Robin and disappeared into the cave's changing area.

Robin watched him leave in shock for a moment before mentally shaking himself and looking at his team mates on the communicator screen only to chuckle at the gaping expressions they still wore on their faces.

Beast Boy was the first to recover, "I told you guys Batman wasn't that bad, didn't I?! Dude, you totally need to ask him for an autograph for me!"

Raven slapped Beast Boy upside the head

"Ow!" he complained

"Are you guys satisfied now?" Robin asked, not unkindly

Cyborg nodded, "Yeah, sorry for freaking out on you earlier."

Robin nodded, "It's okay, I understand why you did but as Batman said; I'm not obsessing, I'm working through it, and Batman has a way of not letting me do anything stupid, so you don't need to worry about me."

Cyborg nodded, "Alright then, good luck and we'll see you when you get back."

"Thanks," Robin said, "Robin ou-"

"Wait!" Starfire cut him off

"Yes, Star?"

"Oh, I…" She stammered looking a bit embarrassed at her sudden outburst, "I just wanted to say that it is good to see you not looking so much like a… zorflahg anymore."

Robin smiled, "Thanks, Star, I'll see you all later. Robin out."

With that he turned the communicator off and removed his mask. He looked up as he heard Bruce coming back and fixed his mentor with a weird look

"What?" Bruce asked

"Tell me honestly," Dick began slowly, "What was the original reason why you decided to dress up in full Batman attire to speak to my team? To freak them out or to get the 411 on what the Slade obsession does to me?"

Bruce smirked, "I could tell that Cyborg was worried, he was using almost the same tone of voice the boy scout uses when he's worried about me," Bruce rolled his eyes as he explained, "So I figured you'd need some back up, and it was a good opportunity to meet your team mates, in a way, which I was curious enough to do after all the stories you told me involving them yesterday. What they ended up telling me was completely circumstantial, I only intended on telling them that their concern was unwarranted… and yes, I may have felt like freaking them out a little too." He added with a smirk.

"Oh," Dick said, a little taken a back, "Well I think what really freaked them out was that last bit where you said that it was nice to meet them," he added with mirth, "Did you see their faces? It was priceless"

Bruce chuckled, "No, I didn't see their faces but I can picture them."

"So, what did you think of them?" Dick asked

Bruce considered the question for a moment before answering, "I can see why you trust Cyborg to take care of them when you're gone, he's loyal and caring although he's obviously a little stubborn and a bit of a hot head,"

Dick nodded, "And a real grease monkey, he built our T-car and I think it has more toys than the Batmobile does."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at that but carried on with his assessment of the Titans, "I understand now why you allowed Raven into your mind, she obviously has a better understanding of how the mind works and how emotions can affect a person and the way she stood up for you showcases her loyalty, and she's definitely got spunk."

Dick nodded again, "Her powers are based on her emotions and can be very dangerous if she loses control of them so she spends a lot of time meditating. She is very loyal but like you she can put her emotions aside when it needs to be done, she saw Terra's betrayal coming before the rest of us did." He explained, "And according to her she doesn't do fear so that's where you spunk comes from."

Bruce nodded in acknowledgement, "Beast Boy is basically your version of Flash."

Dick had to laugh at that, "'Nuff said."

Bruce smiled, "And I can see why you've taken a special liking to Starfire."

If Dick had been drinking something at that moment he would have choked, "What?!"

Bruce smirked, "Come on, kiddo, I've seen the look you get on your face when you talk about her and I saw how you looked at her when she was talking.

Dick crossed his arms, face red, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bruce chuckled, "Okay, stay in denial then, but as I was saying; she's caring, kind and loyal, I would think that she actually is more loyal to you specifically and she's got spunk too."

Dick sighed in defeat, "You're right, she's always on my side, even if I'm wrong and spunk… you've got no idea."

Bruce chuckled, "Well the stories you've been telling me definitely gives me an idea." He said, "All in all I think they're good kids and I understand why you're willing to trust them with your life and," he lay a hand on Dick's shoulder, "I am immensely proud for making such good decisions when it comes to the people who you trust but most of all I'm proud of how well you've lead them for the past year and a half."

Dick was still for a moment before a beaming smile, the first of its kind in over a year and a half, broke out across his face and he surged forward to give his mentor and father a hug, "Thank you," he whispered, "That… it means a lot, Bruce."

"I know," Bruce replied, "I've always been proud of you, Dick, I should have said it more often."

Dick's grip tightened and Bruce reacted in turn before pulling back, "Now, I believe you were about to use the smart table* to hack Slade's mask before we were so rudely interrupted."

Dick's grin didn't leave his face as he followed his mentor back to the table they had been working at.

* * *

**AN: the smart table is something I've seen on all crime shows. It's this table where they just put a phone or something on it and then they can hack into it from the table top which is just like a giant tablet. So I figured Robin could hack into the mask using one of those, I just wasn't sure exactly what it's called...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Son of a - !"

Bruce looked up from the file he was working on an hour or so later to see Dick hunched over the smart table with an angry scowl on his face.

"What is it?" Bruce asked as he got up and moved towards Dick.

"The dust was definitely meant for me." Dick ground out

"Do you mean that he sent a signal from outside?" Bruce asked as he leaned in next to Dick to see the data displayed on the smart table

Dick shook his head, "No, the releasing of the dust was a kind of a defence mechanism. It was programmed to release the dust as soon as it was tampered with if it didn't receive a signal from Slade's system within three days of it going offline."

"Then how was it meant for you?" Bruce asked

"It was programmed to only release the dust if it recognised me," Dick tapped on a picture of himself as Robin, "As soon as I picked it up it activated and ran a specialised facial recognition scan and it released the dust as soon as it recognised Robin's face." Dick pressed his hand to his forehead, "He knew that if I ended up with his mask I wouldn't be able to just let it go, that I would keep going over the evidence." He dropped his hand and met Bruce's gaze, "How could I have let him get into my head like that? So that in the end he knew how my mind works?" Dick dropped his gaze, "I'm so stupid."

"No," Bruce argued immediately, "You're not stupid, you're a teenager, and although you have much more experience dealing with madmen than any other teenagers, you still weren't experienced enough to deal with someone as manipulative as he was, Dick, but now you are and you've learnt from your mistakes so you won't let him or anyone like him get into your head again. If you were stupid you wouldn't have learnt anything from the experience and you would probably still be his apprentice."

Dick shuddered at that idea and Bruce quickly carried on, "But you're not, instead you're here, so you're not stupid at all, alright?"

Dick met Bruce's gaze again for a long moment before nodding, "Okay. Thanks, Bruce."

Bruce smiled, "Any time."

A beeping from the Batcomputer suddenly drew their attention

"That should be the results for the dust." Bruce said as he moved towards the computer with Dick close on his heels.

Bruce sat down in the chair in front of the computer and pulled up the results and began to read them. Dick leaned over Bruce's shoulder to be able to read the results too.

"Hmm," Bruce hummed, "He definitely went to Scarecrow for this, it contains most of his usual ingredients, in fact," Bruce pulled up a file labelled 'Scarecrow' and then opened a subfolder labelled 'fear toxins' and then opened a document labelled 'day terrors', "Yes, you see? The formula used in the dust is similar to the formula used for the 'day terrors' strain." Bruce pointed out as he placed the two formulae next to one another on the screen, "There are only a few differences."

Dick nodded, "Yeah, I see it… but is that last ingredient human DNA?" he asked, pointing to the formula for the dust

"Yes," Bruce answered, "'Unidentified male'" he read, "I think it's a safe bet that it must be Slade's, that would explain why you only saw him."

Dick shuddered at the thought of having breathed in some of Slade's DNA

"The other ingredients must be what induced the Placebo Effect and only seeing him in the dark." Bruce added as he pulled up the results from Cyborg's scans of Robin, "Hmm, there are a few things his scans didn't pick up at all, most notably the one that's usually responsible for nightmares."

"So I could still have that in my system?" Dick asked hopefully

Bruce nodded, "I'll need to take a blood sample to be sure."

Dick nodded, "Well let's get it over with then." He said impatiently as he headed over to the medical bay, hoped on the little bed and pushed up his sleeve.

Bruce was right behind him and quickly got to work drawing some blood.

"Alright," Bruce said less than five minutes later as he started the analysis of Dick's blood, "We should have the results in about a half an hour or so."

"Then our visitor has excellent timing." Alfred's voice announced suddenly, causing both Bruce and Dick to jump about two metres in the air

"Sheesh, Alfred, I forgot how sneaky you can be!" Dick said

"I hate it when he does that." Bruce grumbled

Alfred ignored both comments, "Doctor Thompkins arrived just arrived, sirs." He stated

"Oh, what's Leslie doing here?" Dick asked though he already had a sneaking suspicion

Bruce's expression suddenly turned into one similar to the one Batman wore when he had to dismantle a bomb, "Alfred thought it would be a good idea if we asked Leslie just to give you a quick check up and I agreed. I'm sorry we didn't ask you first," Bruce overrode the protest he could see rising in Dick's eyes, "But you were asleep and we weren't going to wake you up unnecessarily."

Dick huffed and crossed his arms, "And you decided to leave mentioning it to me until she got here why exactly?"

Bruce shrugged, "It honestly slipped my mind. We've been so busy with all this since this morning."

Dick sighed, "Alright, alright. Where is she?"

"She had to take a phone call; she will be down in a few minutes." Alfred answered, "Master Dick, I do believe that it is nearly three thirty."

Dick immediately perked up, "Tea time?"

"Indeed, sir. Would you like me to fix you a cup while Doctor Thompkins is checking you over and bring it down with some cookies when she is finished?"

"That would be great, Alfred, thanks." Dick answered with a grin, "But you should bring yours down too, then we can have it together like we're supposed to."

Alfred smiled, "If Master Wayne and Doctor Thompkins aren't opposed to it then I don't see a problem with it."

"Alfred I'll never say no to you joining us, especially since it seems like I'll be the one who's intruding anyway, and I highly doubt Leslie would have a problem with it" Bruce said as Leslie came down the stairs, "Although if you could maybe bring me a cup of coffee with your tea, that would be amazing."

"Of course, sir," Alfred said with a barely suppressed smirk.

"I don't have a problem with it either, Alfred," Leslie said as she came to a halt next to him, "And I definitely wouldn't say no to a cup of your tea."

"Very well then, I assume you will be finished within a half an hour?" Alfred inquired

Leslie nodded, "Give or take, it depends on what I find," She answered as she eyed Dick's thin frame, "I can already see that you've lost weight, sweetie, haven't you been eating?" She asked Dick

Dick shrugged, "Every now and again." He answered with a playful smirk as Alfred returned upstairs

Leslie raised an eyebrow at him, "I get the feeling that there was more truth in that statement than you're letting on, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss that joking attitude of yours." She said with a smile as she reached out to give him a hug, "How have you been, dear?"

"Eh," Dick shrugged as he returned the hug, "Mostly pretty good."

"That's mostly pretty good to hear," she said with a wink, "Now let's see if your body agrees with you."

"Well your ribs are healing nicely," Leslie said twenty-five minutes later, "And you're only about three pounds underweight, but I'm sure those few pounds will be back within the week thanks to Alfred's cooking."

Dick grinned, "Well I've eaten everything he's put down in front of me since I got here."

Leslie nodded as Dick suddenly yawned

"Sorry," Dick apologised, "These yawns keep sneaking up on me."

Leslie nodded again, "When was the last time you got a solid eight hours of sleep, honey?"

"Uhm," Dick's face creased in concentration, "Gosh Leslie, I don't know. Sleep and I haven't been the best of pals lately."

Leslie frowned, "Why is that?"

"Well," Dick glanced at Bruce, "It's a long and involved story that took me an entire afternoon and evening to tell yesterday, but hopefully I'll get that solid eight hours in tonight."

"Hmm," Leslie hummed as she also looked at Bruce, "Well you're exhausted, sweetie, you actually need to get as much sleep and rest as possible, which is the opposite of what you're doing down here, I'm sure."

Dick sighed and looked away; he was getting sick of people telling him that he needed to rest when they didn't understand that he simply _couldn't_, not yet at least.

"He needs to do this to be able to rest, Leslie," Bruce broke in, "If our suspicions are correct then there's something in his system that's preventing him from resting and that's why we're down here."

"What could -?"

"Fear toxin." Dick answered Leslie before she could even finish asking her question in a quiet voice.

"Oh," Leslie breathed, "You poor thing, why didn't you say so before?"

Dick shrugged

"Well as soon as whatever's in your system is out I want you to take one of the sleeping pills Alfred uses to knock Bruce out and sleep for an entire day at least, alright?" Leslie said as she laid a hand on Dick's shoulder.

Dick looked up and gave her a small smile, "Okay, Leslie."

"Good." She said as Alfred joined them with a tray laden with cups

"Here we are, sirs and ma'am." Alfred said as he put the tray down on a table surrounded by chairs, "I trust everything is in order?"

"He's healthy," Leslie answered, "But he needs sleep. I told him that as soon as whatever he got from Scarecrow is out of his system he needs to take one of those sleeping pills I gave you for Bruce and sleep for an entire day at least. I trust that you will ensure that he does?"

Alfred nodded, "Even if I need to sneak it in his breakfast."

Dick scowled, "I always thought it was funny when you two schemed against Bruce like that," he said and looked to Bruce, "Now I get why you were always so grumpy afterwards; it's freaking annoying!"

Bruce chuckled and was about to say something in reply but he was cut off by a beeping noise coming from the Batcomputer, "That should be your results." He said instead as he headed toward the computer with Dick following close behind.

Bruce pulled up the results and quickly read through them with Dick leaning over his shoulder. Finally he looked up at Dick, "You definitely still have the nightmare ingredient in your system."

"And you have a cure for it, right?" Dick asked in a cautiously hopeful voice

"Not for this particular one, but I will in about an hour or so."

Dick's shoulders slumped in relief, "Thank you." He breathed feverently.

Bruce stood up and pulled him into a tight hug, "Any time, chum, any time."

* * *

**AN: the Placebo Effect is when, for example, a person who doesn't have a cold truly believed that he does have a cold and then actually starts showing symptoms of having a cold even though the bug is not present in his system… it's also a real thing, look it up, it's quite interesting :) … I hope you all enjoyed this part! I think there's only one chapter, and maybe an epilogue, but I'm still debating that, left. Be back in two days! And thanks again to all of you who have reviewed and followed and favourited this story so far, you all rock!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Dick fell asleep on the sofa in Bruce's study an hour after the antidote was administered while Bruce caught up on some Wayne Enterprises related paperwork. He woke again briefly as Bruce picked him up to carry him to bed but he was dead to the world again before Bruce finished tucking him in and he stayed that way for some time.

The next time Dick awoke there was sunlight streaming in through the tiny crack between his curtains. He started at the sliver of sunlight in confusion for a few minutes. There's nothing weird about sunlight, so why did he feel as if he shouldn't be seeing it immediately after waking up? The last thing he remembered was lying down on the sofa in Bruce's study to wait for Alfred to finish making dinner and the sun had still been shining then so he couldn't have been asleep for a very long time, but then why did Bruce decide to bring him up to his room? And why did it feel as if he had been asleep much longer than a half an hour? Because he must have been asleep for less than that since Alfred hadn't come to call him for dinner yet and he hadn't had any nightmares that he could remember.

Dick frowned at the sunlight, his sleep addled brain was having trouble putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. He threw off the covers, rolled out of bed and walked over to the curtains and pulled them apart. He groaned as the sudden light assaulted his eyes and blinded him for a few seconds. When his eyes finally adjusted they went wide in shock; the sun was high in the sky!

'_Holy… How long have I been asleep?' _he wondered before shaking his head, he'd have to ask Bruce, _'But first, a shower sounds like a really good idea.'_

Half an hour later, freshly showered and feeling like he could run a marathon, Dick made his way to Bruce's study. He pushed open the door to find Bruce still busy with paperwork.

"Well, good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty." Bruce greeted him, "How do you feel?"

Dick rolled his eyes at the 'Sleeping Beauty' comment before answering: "Like the Energiser Bunny, thanks, how long was I out?"

Bruce checked his watch, "Hmm give or take eighteen hours; it's one o'clock now and you passed out around six-thirty yesterday."

Dick stared incredulously at Bruce, "Eighteen hours? And no nightmares? Damn, Bruce, I think I just made history or something!"

Bruce chuckled, "I'm glad to hear that you got a decent amount of rest last night. I think after you sleep for the full twenty-four hours like Leslie said you should then you should be back at a hundred percent again."

"I already feel like I'm at a hundred percent, Bruce, I'm pretty sure I don't need to sleep for another twenty-four hours, couldn't we just make it six so we make up the twenty-four?"

Bruce held up his hands, "If you want to get out of sleeping for twenty-four hours you'll need to make your argument to Alfred; he's the one who promised to drug your food if need be."

Dick grimaced, "Right."

"I was thinking of interrogating Scarecrow tonight, care to join me? That is if Alfred lets you stay awake that long." Bruce said

Dick straightened, "You weren't planning on going without me, were you? I need to know what he knows about Slade!"

"Of course not, if Alfred makes you sleep we can go tomorrow night." Bruce answered raising his hands in a placating manner.

Dick crossed his arms, "Good."

* * *

"Well, well, well, the Bat and his Bird have come to visit me!" Dr Jonathan Crane cackled later that night from his cell in Arkham, "How thoughtful of you."

"We've come to ask you some questions, Crane," Batman growled from the other side of the bars, Robin at his side, "I suggest you answer them."

"Well I can't answer any questions if you don't ask them now can I?" Scarecrow asked snarkily

"I'm warning you Crane, I'm not in the mood for games tonight." Batman growled

"Games, Batman? I don't play games, I conduct experiments. If you want to play games you should go visit the Joker… but, oh that's right, he broke out a week ago, didn't he? Well if you've come to ask for information on that I'm afraid I can't help you." Crane said

"I know you haven't had any contact with the Joker, Crane, that's not why we're here."

"It's not?" Crane asked in mock surprise, "Well then this I must hear! What could be more important to you than tracking down the Joker?"

Batman stepped to the side to let Robin take over the interrogation

"Slade," Robin growled, his voice coming out almost as gravelly as his mentor's, "What do you know about him?"

Crane shrugged, "I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about, little bird."

"What about Deathstroke? Does that ring a bell?"

Scarecrow hesitated for a moment before shrugging again, "Afraid not, Boy Blunder."

Robin growled, "Don't lie to me Crane! I know that you supplied him with a scare toxin in powder form. What do you know about him?"

"Ooooh so he got you, did he?" Crane crowed, "Tell me, little bird, what was worse? Not being able to fight back while he beat you to a pulp? The fact that no one else could see him and thought that you were losing your mind? Or maybe it was the nightmares? I added a little something special to make sure they stayed behind even if someone figured out a cure for you. When was the last time you had a dreamless sleep?"

"Last night, actually, not a single nightmare that I can remember," Robin answered, his voice low and dangerous, "But you've just admitted that you know Deathstroke. So tell me everything you know about him!"

"Or what? You'll sic Batman on me? I don't have to answer any of your questions and you can't do anything to me in here." Crane spat

"Actually that's not such a bad idea, but I'll give you one more chance before I do that, Crane. What do you know about Deathstroke?"

"That, little bird, is for me to know and for you to find out."

"Oh I'm gonna find out alright." Robin growled menacingly before stepping away from the bars.

Batman nodded to Aaron Cash, the head of Arkham Asylum's security and someone who Batman considered as an ally (kind of like the Commissioner Gordon of Arkham Asylum), who then pushed a button on a remote which caused the bars of Dr Crane's cell to slide up. Seconds later Batman was inside the cell and had Crane pressed up against the back wall of his cell.

"Tell us what you know, Crane," he growled so low that it sent shivers down Aaron Cash's spine.

"Y-you can't do th-this!" Crane stammered

"I think he just did." Robin smirked, "If you don't tell me what you know we could always ask Mr Cash over here to make sure you share a cell with, oh I don't know, Zsasz maybe? Or what about Two-face? Oh, I know, Bane! I'm sure he's been looking for a new punching bag!"

"You stuck-up little brat!" Crane hissed and then yelped a second later as Batman pressed him harder into the wall.

"Alright, alright!" Crane shouted finally, "Just let me go!"

Batman dropped him into a heap on the floor, "Talk." He growled as Robin crouched in front of the fallen man

"Deathstroke came to me months ago, before Batman put me back in here," Crane said as he pushed himself up and rubbed at the spot on his chest where Batman's gauntlet had pressed into him, "He said he was having some trouble taming a certain little bird and asked if I could help him come up with something that would tame it if anything should ever happen to him. I agreed to help for a price. He provided all the materials I needed and paid in full with cash when I was done. Then he disappeared and I never heard from him again."

It seemed to Robin like Crane might be telling the truth. He glanced at Batman who gave a miniscule nod. Robin returned the nod and stood up.

"Well?" Crane asked, "Are you satisfied?"

"For now," Robin answered as he and Batman stepped out of the cell and the bars slid down again.

"You never did tell me," Crane said to Robin, his voice low so that only Batman and Robin could hear "Which effect of the toxin was the worst? I only ask so that I can know how to improve it the next time a bird owner comes around looking for a way to tame his pet."

Robin's fists curled into angry balls but before he could do anything else Batman suddenly surged forward, grabbed Crane by the scruff of his jumpsuit and pulled him forward into the cell bars so hard that it knocked him out.

"We're leaving." Batman growled as he stalked past Robin. He barely nodded at the stunned head of security as they passed him and in the next instant both he and Robin disappeared into the night.

"Damn," Aaron Cash said as he approached Dr Crane's cell, "You must have really made him mad," he muttered to the comatose doctor, "I wonder what you said, I've only ever seen the Joker rile him up like that." he shrugged, "Oh well, sleep tight, doctor, I'll let the nurse know to check up on you tomorrow."

* * *

'_He said he was having some trouble taming a certain little bird and asked if I could help him come up with something that would tame it if anything should ever happen to him.' _

'… _if anything should ever happen to him.'_

What did that mean? Did Slade actually expect Robin to beat him someday? Or maybe it really was just for if something happened to him, like falling into a pit of lava for instance?

'_I only ask so that I can know how to improve it the next time a bird owner comes around looking for a way to tame his pet.'_

Robin kept coming back to Dr Crane's last words. He knew he shouldn't take them personally, but for some reason they really bothered him.

"Robin?" Batman's voice pulled him out of his thoughts as they entered the tunnel leading to the cave, "Are you alright."

Robin gave a half-hearted shrug, "I'm fine. It's not like I haven't been trash talked before." He said before giving another half-hearted shrug, "Besides he wasn't wrong. I was basically Slade's pet for a while anyway."

"Robin-"

"Just leave it."

A deafening silence filled the batmobile as they rounded the last few corners and entered the batcave.

Robin jumped out of the car the moment they came to a stop. Batman waited a few minutes before following, wanting to give Robin some space to calm down first.

"Sir?" Alfred asked as Batman pulled his cowl off to reveal the worried mien of Bruce Wayne "Is everything alright? Master Robin looked rather distraught."

Bruce shook his head, "The thing with Slade ate at his self-esteem, Alfred, and Crane said some things which apparently went straight to his head."

"Ah, well you ought to do something about that. He'll never get to sleep if he goes to bed upset and I do not wish to have to drug him after all."

"You were going to drug him anyway." Bruce said with a raised eyebrow

"True, but only with breakfast tomorrow, I spoke with Doctor Thompkins and she said that it is important that he sleep for twenty-four hours straight. Of course I know that he is accustomed to getting much less sleep than is normal which is why I planned holding off on the drugs until tomorrow."

"Right, I'll go talk to him, hopefully I can get him to focus on the promising part of what Crane said."

"There was a promising part, sir?" Alfred asked hopefully

"Yeah, it sounds like-"

He was cut off by a crash coming from the changing area.

"Dick?!" Bruce shouted as he ran to the source of the sound.

He entered the room to find Dick sitting on a bench in his pajamas, staring dejectedly into the mirror which was now cracked in a circular pattern radiating out from a point of impact in the middle, with blood dripping off his right hand from his knuckles.

"Oh, Dicky." Bruce breathed as he saw tears start to spill out of his son's eyes.

He moved forward and crouched in front of the silently crying teen and took the bloody hand into his own to examine it, "Oooh, you got some glass in here."

Dick surprised him by snorting, "I can't even punch a mirror right."

Bruce looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "The mirror looks pretty broken to me, I'd say that you definitely did something right."

Dick snorted again but didn't say anything, tears still running down his face.

"C'mon, chum, let's go get this hand cleaned up and then you can tell me what's got you so upset."

Dick didn't say anything but allowed himself to be pulled up into a standing position and lead to the medical area of the cave. He sat down on one of the beds and let Bruce get to work.

"Would you like a painkiller for that, sir?" Alfred inquired

Dick just shook his head, "I'm fine."

"Talk to me, chum." Bruce said as he shot Alfred a look.

"There's nothing to talk about." Dick said bitterly.

"Alright, fine, then listen to what I'm about to tell you." Bruce said seriously, "You should know better than to take what any one of those lunatics say so seriously. You are much more than what he implied and you were never Slade's pet, no matter what he said to anyone else about it. If you really were some pet you would never have gotten away from him the way you did, you would never have been able to lead the Titans as well as you do and I sure as hell never would have let you become Robin in the first place. Okay?"

Dick took a deep breath and then nodded, "Okay," he said, wiping the tears from his face

"Good." Bruce said, as he continued working on Dick's hand, "Now how about you focus on the important part of what Crane told us?"

"He said that he wanted the toxin for if anything ever happened to him." Robin said, "Do you think that means..?"

"I do." Bruce said with a nod, "It was a contingency plan for if Slade could never get a chance to try and break you again; a last-ditch effort."

"Do you really believe that, Bruce?"

"I really do, Dicky." Bruce said, looking deeply into the oceans that made up his son's eyes, "The chances are good that he really is gone."

"But what if he's not?"

"Then you'll be ready and waiting for him but you need to stop looking for him. Hunting 101: what's the best way to catch something that you can't find?"

The corners of Dick's mouth pulled up into a small smile, "You wait for it to find you."

"Exactly."

* * *

**AN: Aaron Cash is a character from the Batman: Arkham Asylum and City games. I don't think he ever actually was the chief of Arkham's security but I think he deserves to be :)… Right, ONE more chapter/epilogue thing left then this story is done :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Two weeks later the batplane cut through the night sky of Jump City headed straight for Titan's Tower.

"Okay, I've added the batplane's signature to the security system's database so the others won't think they're under attack or something when we land." Robin said

Batman nodded in acknowledgement.

"Just try not to scare them all half to death by coming out of the shadows all unexpectedly, okay?"

Batman's lips curled up in a rare smile, "Where's the fun in that?"

Robin laughed, "Seriously though, I don't want them to be traumatised or anything."

"Hm." Batman hummed

"So you're not going to traumatise them?"

Batman said nothing

"Batman-"

He was cut off by a bump as they landed. Batman stood up and headed for the plane's cargo door.

Robin groaned, "You are impossible." He muttered and followed.

Batman waited at the door and stepped aside to let Robin exit first. Robin glared at him as he walked past him and down the ramp. The minute his feet touched the roof he was tackled by a flying orange blur.

"ROBIN!" Starfire exclaimed as she enveloped him in a tight hug, "Oh I am so glad that you have returned! It is so wonderful to see you again!"

"Ahck! It's good- to see you- too- Star," Robin choked out as Starfire all but squeezed all the air out of his lungs, "But I- can't- breathe!"

"Oh! Oh I am sorry, Robin!" She gasped as she quickly put him down again, "Please forgive me, I got a little… over excited."

Robin chuckled, "That's alright, Star."

"Yo man!" Cyborg said, coming over clapping Robin on the shoulder, "We were beginning to worry that you'd never come back!"

"I said I would be back in a week or two didn't I? It's been two weeks." Robin replied as he fist pumped Beast Boy.

"It's good to see you again, Robin" Raven said

"Yeah and you don't even look a little like a zombie anymore!" Beast Boy pitched in.

"It's good to see you too, Raven; it's good to see all of you again."

"Dude, Batman let you have the batplane?" Beast Boy asked in awe

"No." Batman's voice answered suddenly, "I gave him a lift."

"Eeeep!" Starfire yelped and quickly hid behind Robin.

Beast Boy, who had been about to enter the batplane when Batman stepped out of the shadows, did the same.

"Well if there was ever any doubt about where Robin learned that trick from its obvious now." Cyborg grumbled after having taken a few steps back in surprise.

Raven merely raised an eyebrow at Starfire and Beast Boy as Robin dropped his head into a hand.

"I thought I asked you not to scare my team half to death." He groaned at Batman

Batman's lips twitched upwards so quickly that the rest of the Titans didn't even notice it, but he didn't say anything as he walked down the ramp to stand beside Robin.

"Well guys this is Batman, as you know, and Batman these are the rest of the Titans, as you also know." Robin introduced them kind of awkwardly.

Batman nodded, "Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy." He said by way of greeting

Starfire came out from behind Robin and floated up to Batman, "Greetings, Mr Batman! It is wonderful to finally meet you in person." She said with a beaming smile and offering him her hand.

Batman allowed a small smile to grace his lips for a second as he shook Starfire's hand, "Likewise, Starfire," he said, "Robin has told me all about the adventures you five have embarked on together. I was impressed."

"Whoa." Beast Boy breathed from behind Robin

"Oh yeah." Cyborg agreed as Raven walked up to Batman and shook his hand too.

"Seriously guys," Robin said, "Go say hello, he doesn't bite, I promise."

"Yes, he is very nice despite his dark and menacing appearance." Starfire pitched in as she came to stand next to Robin

"Just don't let him hear you say that Star, he might start biting after all just to prove you wrong." Robin whispered loud enough for Cyborg and Beast Boy to hear as they moved toward Batman. He bit back a chuckle as he saw Beast Boy freeze in his tracks before swallowing hard and going up to shake Batman's hand when Cyborg was finished.

"Come, friends, let us give Batman the tour then we could order the pizza and inform Robin of what has happened in his absence and do the catching up and-" Starfire started listing off things to do.

"I won't be staying that long, Starfire." Batman interrupted her, "I only came to drop Robin off, although I won't say no to a tour of your tower; I'm curious to see what it looks like on the inside."

* * *

"… And that's Titan's Tower." Robin said a half an hour later in the living room as the tour came to an end.

Batman nodded, "It's definitely an impressive base of operations you have here." He acknowledged before turning to face the team, "Before I leave there is something I need to discuss with all of you."

The Titans all exchanged confused glances, even Robin didn't know what was going on.

"I have informed the Justice League of the work you do as a group and at the last meeting we came to a unanimous decision. We would like to offer you a kind of a partnership; when you need our help all you need to do is ask for it and there will be times when we would benefit from your help as well."

"Why now?" Cyborg asked, "I mean, we've been operating here for over a year and a half now, you can't tell me that the Justice League didn't know about us."

"We knew about you," Batman answered, "But as far as we knew you only operated in this city, but you have already completed missions in outer space, if we had known that you operated almost as widely as we did we would have offered our help much earlier."

"So basically you guys didn't think that a bunch of teenagers would make much of a difference?" Robin asked, crossing his arms.

"No," Batman countered, "We knew you would make a difference; we just didn't know that you would make so much of a difference so soon. From what Robin has told me; the five of you have accomplished more in the past year and a half than the League did within the first year and a half of its creation; that's something you can all be very proud of, but you are all still teenagers and, as I have discussed with Robin, you are still somewhat inexperienced so besides help with missions the League is also offering support. If you are struggling with anything; be it controlling an aspect of your powers, fitting in in an alien civilisation or even if you feel like you need to speak to talk to someone who has gone through something similar to what you're going through before; there will be a member of the league who will be willing and able to help you. Robin knows this; he used to spend quite a bit of time with the League before he helped form this team."

"He's right," Robin said slowly after a few seconds of silence, "I know that if I had gone to Batman much earlier then I probably never would have ended up putting your lives in danger and being black mailed into being Slade's apprentice."

"Robin, that was not your fault." Starfire argued automatically.

"I know," he reassured her, "I was just helping Batman's point; we don't know everything and there will be things that we need help with and I did spend a lot of time with the League before I met you guys, their advice in some instances will be invaluable."

"So you agree with Batman?" Cyborg asked

Robin nodded, "But if we agree to take them up on their offer we need to be all in. So what do you guys think?"

"I think it's a great idea!" Beast Boy said

"I agree," Starfire said

Raven nodded in agreement.

"Cyborg?" Robin asked after a minute without an answer from his friend

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Robin?" Cyborg asked suddenly

Robin nodded, "Sure."

As they stepped away Batman seized an opportunity he had been looking for; "Starfire," he said, "May I have a word with you in the mean time?"

"Oh, of course." She said and they stepped too

"I have a favour to ask you." Batman whispered to her, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by the others, "As I am sure you are aware; Robin tends to have very bad nightmares."

"Oh," Starfire said, "Yes the nightmares he had before he came to see you were terrible."

Batman nodded, "Those particular nightmares have been taken care of, I'm sure Robin will explain it to you later, but what I want to ask you to do is this: if it comes to your attention that he is having nightmares again, convince him to talk to you about them. Talking about what's bothering him is an important part of his coping process and I think you are the only one who he will trust enough to share something so personal with. Do you think you will be able to do that?"

"I will try my best." Starfire answered firmly, "But getting Robin to talk to us can be very difficult."

"Don't try to get him to talk to you when you are around the others, for something that personal it will have to be just the two of you."

Starfire nodded, "Alright."

"And if that doesn't help then tell him to come talk to me and if he gets stubborn about it," he said as he handed her a small black communicator, "Then call me."

"I will." Starfire promised

"Good." Batman said.

They joined the group again at the same time that Cyborg and Robin did. Robin sent them both a curious glance as they joined up again.

"I'm fine with it." Cyborg announced

Batman nodded, "Good, I'll be in contact with Robin about it within the week, but I have to go now."

"Wait, Batman, sir!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Would you… I mean… Do you think you… uh… will you… can I have your autograph?" he spat the last bit out in a rush, looking up at Batman hopefully only to be slapped upside the head by Raven as Robin burst out laughing.

"Man we've been over this!" Cyborg said, "Batman doesn't give autographs!"

"He's right," Batman said, "I don't. Perhaps you can ask Superman for his when you meet him."

"Oh… Okay!" Beast Boy said with a shrug and a grin

Five minutes later they were all on the roof of Titans' Tower watching Batman board his plane. When he got inside he seemed to hesitate for a second, he turned around and seemed like he wanted to say something but he was cut off by Robin.

"Oh no, I think I forgot my earphones in the plane!" he said before quickly running up the ramp and into the plane.

Batman followed with a slight sense of confusion, he couldn't remember Robin using any earphones on the way here. As soon as he was out of sight of the other Titans his confusion was erased as Robin suddenly spun around and hugged him tightly.

"Was pretty sure you'd be mad if I did this where the others could see." Robin mumbled into Batman's shoulder

Batman chuckled and returned the hug just as tightly, "Take care of yourself, son." He said before pulling away and taking his cowl off. Robin quickly followed suit and pulled his mask off too, "And call every now and again, alright." Bruce said

Dick nodded, "I was planning on it… and maybe coming home at least one weekend in a month."

Bruce smiled and pulled his son into another tight hug, "That sounds perfect."

* * *

From his perch on top of a dark building a few miles away a dark figure watched through his binoculars as Robin exited the batplane and then as the plane took off and disappeared into the night.

"It seems you have made peace with your father, little bird." The figure mumbled as he watched Robin and Starfire linger behind the others for a few minutes before also heading in, "No matter; soon I will have you and this time I will tame you and you will belong to me."

* * *

**The End… for now ;)**

**AN: there you have it my lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this last chapter! Thank you so much to all of you who have followed and favourite this story! And thank you so much to those of you who took the time to review, especially Apple Bougher for some reason your reviews always made my day! Thank you also to horseloveringod and the I'm pretty sure the a few of my guests reviews came from one person for reviewing almost every chapter as well, you all helped make my day too… and it's thanks to you three that a sequel is definitely in the works… I won't say when I'm going to start on it as I only have a vague idea for it and still need to figure it out, but it should be within the next month or two… so goodbye for now and keep reading :)**


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